Minimum wage hike a good thing

April 2, 2014

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed does himself and the many people who try to live on minimum wage a huge disservice by blindly following fellow Republicans. He follows their lead like a lost puppy because he has not the voice or the strength of mind to think for himself.

As this debate has taken shape Reed has carried the party line view once again simply because he wants to protect his own seat.

He has said he does not want to cost the economy jobs even though that is not the truth of the matter but spin he has put on the subject. He cites the Congressional Budget Office report saying that 500,000 full time jobs would be lost if the minimum wage was raised. But this is not what you think.

The CBO goes on to say that these people, (mostly women) would reduce their workday of their own accord because they could afford to live the same lifestyle on fewer hours. I say good! Now many women and men will be able to stay home more and be parents like they should and not have to work two or sometimes three jobs to support the family. But the most important thing that he missed was that the jobs are not predicted to be lost because of businesses laying people off but rather by the choice of the people actually making minimum wage.

Mr. Reed needs to make decisions based on fact and what is good for the state and nation. The benefits of raising the minimum wage far out weigh the negative effects.

Raising the minimum wage would reduce the number of people on public assistance, add billions to the GDP, and motivate people to work because of better pay that makes working more meaningful and motivating.

These are facts based on research and not someone's intuition or prediction. Yes, the price of products goes up slightly but not nearly as much as you might expect. Tom Reed might want to read some of the research and stop being a politician owned by special interest.

As a matter of fact when Bill Clinton was president the minimum wage was raised against the clamor of gloom and doom predictors saying it would cost jobs and ruin the economy.

It was shortly after we had the first federal budget surplus. Tom Reed, stop working for the special interest groups or get out.